The Coming of the Night
by MinniMaster
Summary: Hey! This is my first story, and hope you guys enjoy it! The Dragonborn is sent to Araluen by High Queen Elisif the Fair to fetch Will, Halt, Horace, Alyss, Gilan, and Evanlyn. Skyrim needs help. The dragons have returned. Set: Immediately after Book 4, during the events of TESV. Please review!
1. Prologue

**Prologue: The Arrival**

 _Clip! Clop! Clip! Clop!_

The lone rider emerged from the forest. Mounted as he was, his horse maintained a steady trot. Drawing closer and closer to Castle Araluen, he gazed up in awe.

"Surprisingly large, it is" he said, seemingly to his horse. The horse simply whinnied in reply, its black coat blending in with the night.

The rider did not bother to approach unheard, causing the guards at the drawbridge to awake to the sound of a horse's hooves. However, looking up from their post, they saw little more than glowing red eyes. This was due to the rider's choice of attire, which included a black hooded cloak over a tunic and trousers, both of which the same color as his cloak. All of this allowed him to melt into the background... somewhat like a Ranger.

Speaking up in a darker, rougher voice than he had spoken earlier, he said, "Graham Silverwing. High Queen Elisif the Fair has sent me. Skyrim calls for your aid."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Wedding**

The wedding had been going great. The guests were having a wonderful feast of delicious meals, thanks to Master Chubb and his apprentices.

Will turned his head left and right, scanning the entire banquet hall and taking note of the guests. Of course, Lady Pauline and Halt were the main attractions, being the bride and groom, but he found numerous familiar faces in the crowd. Horace, Gilan, Jenny, King Duncan, Evan- Princess Cassandra (He never got used to calling her that), and the gorgeous Alyss sitting next to him were just a few of the friends that he saw there. He realized now that he regarded the King as his friend, but something inside told him that Duncan wouldn't mind.

Looking through the room for the third time, he finally noticed the hooded figure in the corner of the hall. He wore a black cloak that concealed nearly all of his features, save for the bottom half of his face. The man realized that Will was staring at him, and in response, he pulled up his hood just enough to reveal his eyes. He looked back at Will and grinned, throwing the apprentice off guard.

The man was strange. Will knew that much. He gave Will a feeling that he had not felt for a long time, not since he met the gaze of Halt all those years back on Choosing Day.

Before he could ponder him any longer, he was prompted by Alyss to begin his speech. He tapped his glass numerous times, and then stood up to speak his mind about the bride and groom, the latter being his long-time mentor and his father figure.

"... And I hope you two have a wonderful life together," Will said with a massive grin.

With the applause that followed, Will took his seat. He let out a sigh, thinking that his last line was far too cheesy.

Alyss gave him a warm smile as he sat down. It was very pleasing to Will, as he felt his blood rush to his cheeks.

"I liked your speech," Alyss said, her smile not fading.

"I hope it was all right," Will replied, his gaze fixing on her gray eyes.

"It was a lot better than 'all right'," she assured him.

But Will had not heard her reply. He was still staring at her, but his mind lingered on the black-cloaked man that he had seen earlier. His smile faded away as he thought about him more and more.

Alyss took notice of this sudden change in emotion, and she couldn't help but ask him.

"Will? Will, is there something wrong?" she said, her grin finally escaping from her lips.

"N-no. It's nothing. I was just thinking about... things," Will hastily said, realizing that Alyss was talking to him.

"Will, I know when you're lying to me," she said, very coldly. She was about to question him about the matter even further when she noticed Gilan, Jenny, and other couples rising in preparation for the dance.

"We're not done talking about this," she said, forcing a smile on her face. "No matter. Will, would you care to join me for the dance?"

At this, Will was taken back by surprise.

 _A dance?_ he thought. _I haven't prepared for a dance._

"We have to dance?" Will asked, repeating his thoughts in oral form. He already knew what Alyss's reply would be.

"Of course we have to dance, idiot. It is Lady Pauline's wedding, after all," she said in reply, urging Will to the dance floor. "Now, come on. Let's see if you're as good with your feet as you are with your bow."

Evidently, Will was not a good dancer. He stumbled clumsily across the dance floor and stepped on Alyss's foot more than once. Still, he gladly seized the opportunity to be this close to her. Will had a crush on Alyss ever since they were ward-mates, yet he couldn't help but feel as if his "crush" was growing into something more important.

It all started when we he returned home after killing the Kalkara. Specifically, when Alyss kissed him on the lips. He remembered every single detail in that moment vividly. He remembered Alyss's beautiful face, ash-blonde hair, and gray eyes. He remembered her smooth voice as she said the words that still remained in his mind.

"We're all proud of you, Will. But I think I'm proudest of all."

And most importantly, he remembered the kiss. The soft, delicate kiss, like a butterfly landing on a flower. He still felt it on his lips.

And now, here he was, dancing with her. She was just as elegant and beautiful as ever.

He felt as if he needed to return the favor, and he was gladly about to do so.

"Alyss?" he said, seriously but with a hint of a smile.

"Yes, Will?" Alyss replied, in that same, river-over-rocks voice.

But there was no reply. They simply stared into each other's eyes, Alyss into Will's brown and Will into Alyss's gray.

Slowly, as the dance came into its final moments, they inched their faces closer and closer. Their lips were ever so close. And as the dance came to an end...

They kissed.

It was soft and smooth, like their first kiss. But this one had a noticeable amount more passion than the last one. After a few more moments, they broke away from each other, panting and blushing furiously.

They looked around them and saw that they were the only ones remaining on the dance floor. It was hugely embarrassing, Will and Alyss thought, but also quite romantic.

Halt and Lady Pauline were both watching, happy and amused. They were their respective apprentices, after all.

After a few seconds of silence, Horace started clapping. He was very happy for both of his friends, who just shared in a lovely kiss. Then, one after the other, people started clapping with him. The applause was a bit much in the two apprentices' minds, but they accepted it.

Gilan, Halt, Lady Pauline, Horace, Jenny, and even King Duncan. They were all clapping. And as Will saw in the corner of the room...

So was the cloaked man.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Reason**

Will awoke to the sound of Halt saddling Abelard. He walked outside of the cabin and greeted his mentor.

"Morning, Halt. Leaving already, I see?" Will said, his eyes still adjusting to the morning daylight.

After the wedding, Halt had decided to move into Castle Redmont to live with Lady Pauline. A part of Will was sad that he wasn't going to be able to live with the old Ranger anymore, but this also meant that he had the whole cabin to himself. The prospect of that idea didn't sound half bad.

"Actually, _we_ will be leaving. Get changed and saddle Tug. We ride for Castle Araluen in half an hour. King Duncan has arranged a meeting."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Halt, followed closely behind by Will, opened the door to King Duncan's office and entered the room.

Seated at his desk, King Duncan himself. To his right, Princess Cassandra, who had grown quite fond of the name "Evanlyn".

Around a larger table were Lady Pauline, Alyss, Horace, and Gilan. They all said their respective greetings as the two Rangers entered.

There was one more person in the room, Will noticed. It was the same strange and unsettling black-cloaked man that he had seen the night before. He was standing behind King Duncan and Princess Cassandra, leaning on the wall. The man simply raised his hand as a greeting.

"Ah! There they are! Come in, come in," King Duncan said, rising from his seat. "Now, I assume everyone is here? Very well. Graham, young man, if you may?"

At this, the cloaked man, supposedly named "Graham", stepped forward, flipping his hood back in the process. This action revealed, as King Duncan mentioned, the face of a young man, around the same age as Will, Evanlyn, Alyss, and Horace. He had relatively short, yet messy, black hair. His eyes were bright brown and friendly. He was relatively tall, just a bit taller than Alyss. He carried with him several weapons. First, a longbow slung across his shoulders. It was made of black wood, with dark gray designs running across the bow. The quiver holding the arrows was a long leather pouch, covered with what appeared to be raven feathers. The arrows were brown, with black feathers on one end. The bow and the arrows made for a deadly weapon.

He also carried several bladed weapons. Among them was a sword. It wasn't long and heavy, it was actually rather short, about three-fourths the size of a normal sword. It was a very strange weapon, Will thought. The hilt and cross-guard were both black, fitting the man's preferred color scheme. The pommel had three ornamental raven feathers, and the circular cross-guard had the design of a raven on it. The strangest part, however, was the blade. Will swore that it was... glowing red in certain parts. Very unusual, but Will waved the thought away. Perhaps his eyes were just playing tricks on him.

Finally, he had two knives; a short one for throwing, and a longer one for close combat. After the peculiar designs of the bow and sword, these ones were rather plain. They had a simple, brown leather hilt and bronze cross-guard.

Will took heed of the arsenal, and couldn't help but notice that, apart from the sword (which Gilan used anyway), they were the exact same weapons that a Ranger would carry.

 _Is... is he a Ranger? I've never seen him before._ Will thought to himself.

Halt, noticing the quizzical expression on his apprentice's face, immediately knew what he was thinking about.

"No. I've never seen him in the Corps," the grizzled Ranger said. Will was startled that Halt answered the question that he hadn't even said aloud, but he wasn't surprised. That was just the kind of thing that Halt does.

"G'morning, everyone!" Graham said in a very friendly voice. "I'm sorry for making y'all come on such short notice, but this is an urgent matter." His voice turned noticeably more serious.

"I am Graham Silverwing of Skyrim. Our High Queen, Elisif the Fair, has sent me here to Araluen to fetch a number of important individuals." After saying this, he pulled out a scroll of paper. He opened it, cleared his voice, then read what was on the scroll. "She requests the pleasure of the company of..." He quickly glanced at the group of people looking at him, before continuing.

"The Rangers, Will, Halt, and Gilan. The warrior, Horace Altman. The courier, Alyss Mainwaring. And finally..." He took one last look at the people in the room, noticing that the mentioned names had surprised looks on their faces, save for Halt and Gilan. The former had a blank expression, and the latter was actually grinning. He then finished reading what was on the scroll.

"... His Majesty, King Duncan."

At this, the King sighed.

Closing the scroll and returning it to his pack, Graham threw the entire room into a very cold stare. Speaking in a completely serious voice now, he told them the reason behind all of this.

"Our land, Skyrim, is in grave danger. We fear the dragons have returned."

The entire room gasped at the mention of the winged beasts.


End file.
